N.Y. production of infidelity drama in Sherman

Published 1:00 am, Thursday, June 15, 2006

In "Honour," now on stage at the Sherman Playhouse, infidelity moves out of the realm of desperate housewives and into the rarefied air of intellectuals. This allows for upscale dialogue, if unsurprising dramatics.

Australian playwright
Joanna Murray-Smith
focuses on a familiar triangle - husband in midlife crisis, loyal wife, younger woman - but there is a high-tone qualifier. All three are writers.

"Honour" was briefly seen on Broadway in 1998 as a vehicle for
Jane Alexander
on her return to the stage after serving as head of the
National Endowment for the Arts
. She played the role of a poet who finds herself discarded after 32 years of marriage.

Laura Linney
played the other woman, an ambitious reporter with literary ambitions.

The Sherman show is from Land by Sea Productions of New York City and has three Equity performers in its four-character cast.

Gus (
Chris Cantwell
), a successful middle-age journalist, finds his ego flattered and his libido aroused when Claudia (
Sarah Babb
), a sexy young reporter, seeks him out while writing a story on important writers.

Having been happily married for three decades to Honor (no "u"), played by
Lynn Laurence
, his seven-year itch develops a bit late but arrives with the full-blown passion and chaos that such May-September liaisons generate.

Gus moves in with Claudia, leaving Honor and their 24-year old daughter, Sophie (Claire Winters), to try to make sense of his seemingly insensitive departure.

The script is filled with the sort of wise, witty, epigrammatic lines we always wish we could think of when we've in emotional confrontations. The playwright also seems to be under the influence of both Mamet and Pinter - his pauses alternate with short spurts of dialogue.

The scenes are short, terse and almost actionless. The characters mostly tell each other (and us) what they're feeling. After a while it seems like we might have stumbled into a marriage counselor's office by mistake.

All four actors give a good account of themselves. Laurence brings the necessary blend of anger, heartbreak and ultimate steeliness to the classic wronged wife role.

Cantwell is good as the erring husband, but he doesn't give Gus enough passion to make his decisions totally believable.

Babb is an icy love goddess, who keeps Claudia's cool - and keeps us from really understanding her seemingly calculating personality.

As a daughter turning into her mother, Winters has the least interesting part, but she comes across as sincere and wise to what the future could hold for her if she forgoes her independence for love.

Director
Josh Mendelow
has gotten thoughtful performances from his quartet but hasn't been able to keep the play from turning into a series of brief sit-down confrontations. Playing on a unattractive cluttered set, there's little chance to move people around.

He also misses a chance to link the brief scenes together with some touch of music, something I remember favorably from the Broadway production. Constant fading to black, in silence, becomes a bore.

This is a very minor theater experience, but if you're in the neighborhood and have a fondness for soap opera, it might do just fine.

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"Honour" plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 at the Sherman Playhouse, routes 37 and 39, behind the Sherman Firehouse. Tickets are $15, $13 for seniors and students; call (860) 354-3622.